"What I have shown you is reality. What you remember, that is the illusion."
-Cinematic cutscenes were unheard of in 1997 and FF7 caused a lot of people's jaws to drop with it's opening sequence in Midgar.
-The story is very immersive and there is at least one tremendous plot twist that really sets it apart from most other RPGs.
-Solid character design, Sephiroth and Vincent are particularly interesting.
-Nobuo Uematsu is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to his music.
-Tons of fantastic minigames including motorcycles, submarines, snowboarding, and moogles.
-Endgame content that requires extensive preparation to overcome.
-Excellent world map with various vehicles.
-The materia system is pretty decent and allows for a certain level of customizability.
-Beautiful scenery and art that is constantly integrated with the gameplay.
Bad:
-A couple of characters were less developed than I would've liked - Cait Sith, Hojo, and Bugenhagen come to mind.
-The dialogue drags on a little bit too much in some parts and I can't help but feel like the translation could have been better at times.
-A couple of the dungeons are too tedious to be what I would consider fun, but this is all relatively minor given the scope of the game and shouldn't dissuade anyone from experiencing it.